The
history of Egypt is filled with exciting and unusual
stories, perhaps none so much as that of Hatshepsut, a
female pharaoh.

The granddaughter of the
famous Amenhotep I, Hatshepsut wasn't really in line to be
the king of Egypt, especially since she was a she.
Males were the rulers in those days, and females were shut
out of the line of succession.

But when her father,
Tuthmose I, died, his son, Tuthmose II, became king. This
Tuthmose was married to Hatshepsut. (Tuthmose I had two
wives, Mountnofrit (the mother of Tuthmose II) and Aahmes
(the mother of Hatshepsut).

Tuthmose II,
archaeologists tell us, ruled only three or four years,
dying of a skin disease. He had a son, who was Hatshepsut's
nephew. This son, Tuthmose III, was very young when his
father died. So Hatshepsut took over.

Amazingly, she ruled for
15 years, while her nephew came of age. She wore the
traditional clothing of the male pharaohs, and she had
support of the Egyptian elders and the Egyptian people. No
major wars were fought at this time, but the Egyptians did
make expeditions to neighboring civilizations, spreading the
word that their ruler was a woman.

After Hatshepsut's death,
Tuthmose III was so jealous of her that he ordered her
temple destroyed, her monuments obscured, and all mention of
her erased from the walls of temples and other important
buildings. Since the ancient Egyptians believed that a
person's spirit lived on as long as his or her name was
carved into a wall, Tuthmose's decision to erase his hated
aunt's name was probably because he thought that he would
destroy her spirit as well.